D’ Arrivee to score but sadly not with Gunter

The team of jockey Gunter Wrogemann and trainer Candice Dawson was turning into a successful combination and the statistics back that up. Wrogemann has had 55 rides for Dawson, won on 11 of them, and has placed on a further 17 horses.

They were due to team up with D’ Arrivee in Race 8 at the Vaal today when racing takes place on the Inside track but sadly Wrogemann was injured after a fall at Turffontein on Sunday and will not be available for some time.

Although Dawson has yet to name a replacement for D’ Arrivee, this three-year-old son of Kahal looks an interesting prospect. He ran fifth on debut and then followed that up with two successive second places, the first behind Full Of Attitude in which he was beaten 6.60 lengths and then behind The Falls Road where he went down two lengths.

The last run was on 2 December and just two days later he was gelded. He only returned to racing on 10 May over 1400m at the Vaal and D’ Arrivee raced clear of his rivals to beat Imperial Quest by 3.70 lengths.

In fairness, he did not meet the strongest of fields but the manner of the win indicated that this youngster could have a lot more fuel in his tank. They contest a MR 86 Handicap, again over 1400m, and although he takes a jump in class, one hopes D’ Arrivee will be up to the task.

A horse whose merit rating has been slowly dropping is Dan The Lad. In February he was racing off a rating of 86 but early in March he was put up six points like most horses in the country. However, he has slowly been coming back again and is now down to 85, which is an effective seven-point (3.5kg) drop.

Mark Khan is a five-time champion jockey who, like Wrogemann, has the glow of a well-matured cognac, and it comes as no surprise to see him riding Grade 1 winners again. He takes the ride on Paul Matchett’s charge for the first time.

Others to take note of are Danza and Till Dawn. Danza finally got his act together and managed to win his last race after a glut of places. That was the first time Raymond Danielson had ridden him and maybe the pair could turn out to be a winning combination.

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